Only In Jest
by Lady Lunae
Summary: Sarah is wished back to the Labyrinth, with a few words meant only in jest. And the next day, Toby finds he's the only one who remembers who she is.
1. A Boy and His Wish

**AN: This is my first official story. It will be slow, and I'm in need to reviews. Let me know please.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything belongs to Jim Henson. If I did own Labyrinth, Jareth and Sarah would be canon. Just saying.**

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**Chapter 1 - A Boy and His Wish  
**

"Not for another month Tobes."

"But your birthday is tomorrow! Can't your teachers let you come home?"

Laughter crackled in the phone.

"I'm serious, Sarah." The little boy's voice bordered on a whine. "I want you home."

The girl sighed. "I know Toby. I want to go home too, but that's just not how college works."

His room was silent for a moment, the sound of her breathing reached his ears and he missed her even more. It wasn't fair that Sarah wasn't home more often. It just wasn't fair.

"Then I hate college." He said stubbornly, a pout on his lips.

She laughed again, the sound ringing throughout his room, making him smile despite himself. Her laugh did that.

"You'll be singing a different tune later in life, Toby."

"Psh, yeah right." School was only fun because he got to see his friends. Sarah had said that she'd had to make new friends when she got to college. Making friends was easy but when you went somewhere so new and unknown, Toby thought it would be nice to have people you knew. Something to make school fun. And her school didn't even let her go home for her birthday! Not fun at all.

The day Sarah had left for college, Toby had waited by the living room window for her to come home that night with Merlin curled up on the floor next to him. But the sun had gone down and Toby had started yawning before his dad had told him Sarah wasn't coming back for a few months. Of course, Toby had cried. Being he was only five-and-a-half years old, it made sense for him to cry.

But now that he was the ripe old age of seven, he looked down on little cry babies. Not that he was a bully or anything. No. Bullies were mean. And everyone always said Toby was such a behaved little child, a perfect angel. Despite not crying every time he missed Sarah, he still called her late at night, when he was sure his parents were sleeping, just to be sure she was okay.

"Sarah?" he said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

There was the expected silence on the other end of the phone. Despite how often, how polite or even how sweetly he asked, Sarah had never told him a story.

"Ugh, I'm sorry honey, I don't really know any," she lied.

Toby always knew when she lied. She always called him honey. When Toby had asked why Sarah doesn't tell him stories, their dad had looked confused. He said that Sarah was always writing things down. At Toby's down-hearted face, Robert Williams had tried to play it off as her doing her homework, followed by urging Toby to go play outside.

But Toby had never forgotten that conversation with his dad. He would sometimes stare out the window at school (during math most of the time) and wonder if it was something to do with him. That, maybe he just wasn't someone you told stories too. Maybe he was a bad listener or had a bad imagination. But no. When his parents told him to do his chores, he always did them. And when he was reading a book, he always pictured what was happening in his head rather than what the pictures in the book showed him.

Did Sarah not love him enough to tell him stories? He had asked himself this question multiple times and came up with the same answer: No. Sarah was the best big sister around. His friends always complained about how bossy or mean their sisters were. Sarah was nothing like that. If she got mad at him, she never yelled or spanked him, she just gave him a look with an eyebrow raised and he immediately behaved.

So why didn't she tell him stories if she would willingly steal cookies with him late at night?

Then a thought had come to him. Maybe he should tell _her_ a story. He had jumped up and down in excitement at his brilliant thinking until his happiness was crushed beneath what felt like that big metal thing that always crushed the Coyote chasing the Roadrunner on his cartoons.

So, he had come up with a plan. A plan that, if he had been the Coyote and Sarah the Roadrunner, he'd have caught her in his trap.

"Well, I know one. Can I tell you a story?" He had to stop himself from giggling as she agreed.

He took a breath. "Once upon a time, there was a princess. And she-"

"Princess? I never knew you liked princess stories." He could hear the amusement in her voice.

"Hush. I'm telling a story. My teacher says it's rude to talk when someone is telling a story cause then the story gets forgotten and the magic is lost."

"Magic? What kind of teacher do you have?" She laughed.

"Hey, my new teacher is awesome! He doesn't make math boring and he tells stories. Something you've never done for me." Whoops.

The phone was silent on her end.

"I'm sorry Sarah. I didn't mean it," Toby said miserably. Now he knew who the Coyote felt. His plan had been perfect. And then he had messed it all up.

She sighed, her breath making the phone crackle.

"It's fine, honey." He flinched. It wasn't fine. It will never be fine because he had really hurt her this time. All because of some teacher he won't even see after this year was over.

They were silent for a while. Hurt and guilt on Toby's side, remorse and unnamed fear on Sarah's.

"Do you still want to tell me a story Toby?" She quietly asked.

"If you want to," he said meekly.

A little breath of laughter. "I promise not to interrupt this time."

And that was Sarah, always trying to bridge any gap that sprang up between them, no matter who's fault it was.

"You swear?"

"Cross my heart and hope to-" she began.

"No!" He yelled. He jumped at his own voice and listened to make sure his parents were still sleeping. When he was sure all was still he breathed a sigh of relief. Close one.

"No? Toby it's just a saying. I don't want to die," Sarah reassured. "Now, come on, tell me the story. You'll have to promise yourself not to interrupt at this rate."

Toby wrinkled his nose. "Ha-ha."

He cleared his throat and took another breath. Dad always did that when he was going to tell a story. His teacher always smiled crookedly, as if there was a secret he knew about stories that no one else could know.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess. And she was the most beautiful princess in the entire world. You could say she was like Snow White, because she had hair dark as night and lips red as a rose. But she didn't sing songs or talk to birds. Yet you couldn't look at her and not think she was the fairest. Even more fairest than Snow White, Sarah."

"You mean 'even fairer' Tobes."

"Oh, right. Well, this princess was very beautiful. So beautiful, her parents sent her off to live in a tower guarded by fierce dragons. They didn't want anyone to steal her away from them. But in doing this mean thing, they forced her from them on their own.

"The dragons were many, their fire was hot, and they loved nothing more than to listen to the princess play her instruments and chase away suit-oars. What's a suit-oar, Sarah?"

"Hmm? Oh! It's a prince who wants to marry the princess." Her voice was soft and dreamy. "Well, it's not always a prince. Just a man who loves the princess and wishes to marry her. And it's pronounced suit-er."

"Oh…I guess that makes sense. You still play the piano, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, whenever I think about this story, I always picture the princess as you because you don't sing but you were in band and Mom and Dad forced you to go to college," Toby's tone was very matter of fact. Sarah had never said she had _wanted_ to go to college, just that that was what she _had_ to do.

She laughed. "They didn't force me to go. I chose to."

Toby hummed in disbelief and Sarah laughed again. He smiled and cleared his throat once more, adjusting the phone against his hot ear.

"The dragons, who loved treasure and anything beautiful, fell in love with the princess themselves and cherished her company. But the princess was not happy. She wanted to explore the world, not be locked away from it. Besides, she had a little brother back home that she missed very, very much."

Sarah made a humming noise in agreement. Toby smiled.

"So, the princess waited and waited. She didn't want the dragons to die, for they were her only friends in the tower. But she knew that the only way to be free, was for the dragons to either let her go or be killed. The thought made her sad and she became con-flick-ed."

"Conflicted," Sarah offered.

"Thank you. Right, conflicted. She started to send away food, not taking a bite herself. The dragons became worried. They asked what was wrong and if they could do anything to help. The princess replied by begging them to let her go. The dragons breathed fire into the sky. They didn't want their brightest jewel to leave them. The princess was their precious. They offered her jewels and silks and dreams to make her stay."

He heard Sarah make an odd chocking sound.

"Are you alright, Sarah?" He frowned.

"It's nothing Tobes. Just a funny thought about homework."

"Oh. Okay. The dragons offered many things to make their jewel stay. But the princess refused them all. Soon, the dragons were so worried, even they forgot to eat too. The princess had known this would happen and prayed for her rescuer.

"And sure enough, out of the woods came a white horse, bright beneath the forest's nighttime. A prince was riding the horse. His hair as golden as sunlight and his crown heavy with precious gems.

"When the dragons saw this handsome prince, they flew towards him. But the prince saw them coming and he could also see how weak they were. One by one, he fought them until only one was left. This dragon had eyes has blue as the sky and was the princess's favorite. She begged the prince not to kill him. The prince talked with the dragon and they agreed that if the dragon would fly the prince and princess back to his palace in the place of his now dead horse, the dragon would live.

"This dragon was young and loved the princess dearly. He bowed his head and the prince climbed on. The dragon flew up to the princess's window and she jumped happily onto the back of her favorite dragon to greet her prince. They flew off over the forest which had seemed so large from her tower but was behind them quicker than a blink. She arrived at his castle and his strange peasants. The end."

Sarah was silent for a moment. "Wait. That's it? Where's the happy ending?"

Toby shrugged, even though Sarah couldn't see him through the phone. What a weird thing that would be. Seeing through a phone, as if.

"My teacher never said they lived happy after. He always just said the end."

"Hmph. I should have a word with him. What's a story without a happy ending?" She seemed really irritated. That was odd.

"Well, when a girl in my class asked the same thing, he said life. What's that supposed to mean, Sarah?" That answer had actually confused him. When he had brought it up to his dad, Robert had merely placed a hand on his should and said he'd understand when he was older. Worst excuse to give a kid. Ever.

She huffed. It sounded like amusement but there was an edge to it that Toby didn't understand.

"It means, that life isn't always a happy ending. I guess your teacher isn't that dim witted, though how he expects six year olds to understand is beyond me."

"Hey! I'm seven!"

"Oh, are you now?" She teased, laughter in her voice.

"So, so," he said eagerly. "Did you like it?"

"Of course! Maybe you should be a teacher and tell stories too, Tobes."

"Blech! No! Mr. Rex says he had to do a lot of school to be a teacher. You know what that means Sarah?"

"That your teacher is a dinosaur?"

"_No_. It _means _that he's spent his _whole life_ in school! I would hate it!" He whined.

Her laugh rang through the phone. "Is your teacher's name really Rex?"

"Yeah." He grinned. That had to be the coolest name ever. Better than Williams by far.

"Is he old?"

He frowned, a wrinkle formed in between his eyebrows. "No. Why?"

"Hmmm. Just curious." She sounded like she was on the verge of laughter. At him or his teacher, he didn't know but Toby felt the need to defend him.

"Mr. Rex isn't old. He's not young like you but he looks about the same age as Dad, which doesn't make him that old, right? And he doesn't even have a gray hair where Dad has a lot. So there!" he said pertinently.

"Oh yeah? How do you know he doesn't dye it? Men can do that too, ya know." She said snidely.

He blew a raspberry at the phone, not caring that his spit got all over the receiver. "His hair is blonde, just like mine. And the top of his head looks nothing like Mom's just before she goes to get hers dyed." It was never said that Toby wasn't observant.

She snorted. "She still dyes her hair? She should just leave off."

Toby was about to reply when a yawn almost snapped his jaw off. At least, that's what it felt like. And, sadly, Sarah heard him through the phone though he tried to cover it up as best he could. Whenever he started yawning, Sarah would try to get him to go to bed…after a while.

"Ah-ha! Toby, how late is it there?"

"Ugh…eleven?" He winced. He really hadn't meant to stay up so late but his parents hadn't gone to bed as early as they usually do and he had had to sneak back downstairs to grab the phone after they were asleep. And then talking with Sarah always made him forget the time.

"_Toby_," she beseeched. "It's a school night. Even I can't tell you its okay to call me this late."

He pouted. "But it's your birthday tomorrow. If I didn't call you, I wouldn't be the first one."

Ever since Toby's fifth birthday, Sarah and Toby had made it a rule that they would call the other the first chance they got on the others' birthday. They would write down what time one of them had called (Sarah was first since Toby's birthday was in May) and then they would compare Toby's time to see who had managed to get up early enough to call. Toby usually won this game because Sarah was such a lousy morning person. And this year, Toby wanted to push the stakes a little. Sarah's time had been at three a.m. this year and Toby couldn't bear it if he lost. He'd never hear the end of it.

Sarah huffed a laugh. "You can't miss sleep just for me, Tobes. School is important. Besides, what would the dinosaur think? I thought you were a good little student?"

"I'm the best! Well…except in math. Math is evil," Toby complained.

"Hear hear!"

Toby laughed, his little giggles making Sarah smile, their magic just a powerful as her own.

"So you're planning on winning again are you?" She teased.

"Duh! I even told Mr. Rex my plan," Toby said proudly, puffing out his chest.

"Oh, really? And your teacher was perfectly fine with you staying up to ungodly hours of the night to call your sister?" Sarah hummed disbelievingly. "I find that hard to imagine."

"Well," Toby thought. "He's not like other teachers. Other teachers don't tell as many stories as he do. And he's really confusing. Like, his ending for the story. No happy ending…."

The conversation went silent.

Now that he thought about it, Mr. Rex didn't act like a teacher at all. He picked favorites for starters. Toby was always called on to help Mr. Rex with things; whether it was to pick a story or make up something and add to the story. He taught class, yes, but actually did it at a pace that everyone liked. As if he knew how much or how little to teach at a time instead of going really slow or breezing right on through.

And he didn't have pictures at this desk neither. Most teachers he had seen had at least one picture of their family. Mr. Rex didn't have a single frame to show his life outside of school. No wife or kids to see. Maybe that meant he didn't have any and was looking for some? Jenny's mom was always staying a few minutes late after pick-up to talk to him. Toby had always felt bad for Jenny because she didn't have a dad.

"Hey, Sarah?" He had just had a thought.

"Yeah Tobes?"

"Do you want a happy ever after?"

"…Yes. Don't you?"

"Happy ever afters are for princesses and princes. And Mr. Rex said your name means princess. So," Toby scrunched his face as he tried to make his mouth say what his head was trying to piece together. Like those dumb puzzles he always had trouble with. "So, since you're a princess, locked away in your college, don't you want the prince to come take you away?"

"Depends on what his palace is like. I don't want to live in a rundown castle, now do I?"

"Well, Mr. Rex said the prince's castle was very large and it was in the middle of some kind of maze. He used a really big word that started with an 'l'." Toby scratched his head. What was that word?

"A labyrinth?" Sarah's voice sounded funny. Like she didn't have enough air.

"Yeah!" Toby said brightly. "You're so smart Sarah. Mr. Rex also said that the prince had funny little people he ruled over. Kind of like dwarfs, except a lot dumber and uglier. Goblins! That's what they were called. Now I remember," Toby beamed. He loved it when Mr. Rex went into detail about his stories, as if he was there personally. "Would that castle sound nice, or what? Living in a big, big castle with little people? I wonder if they ride little mini horses too."

"Dogs," she gasped.

"What?"

"They-they ride dogs."

"How do you know, Sarah? I only just told you the story."

"Yeah…yeah you're right. Sorry," she apologized.

"Do you want to live in a castle like that Sarah?" he said meekly. Why was Sarah acting so funny?

"No," she said, surprising him. "I most definitely do not want to live in a castle like that."

"What?" Toby gasped. "You love castles! You went to visit one this summer. And that one didn't even have a maze!"

"I don't care. I don't like lab-mazes. I don't want that castle. And I don't want that prince either." She bit out.

Toby stayed silent. Why was she so mad? Was this why she didn't like stories? Because she found one tiny thing to dislike and that made the whole story bad?

Toby suddenly felt like he wanted to cry. He had only wanted to tell her a story to get her to tell him one, so that they could talk longer before her birthday came. And now she was clearly saying she didn't like it. It was his favorite.

"I wish you did like the prince, so that you could have a happy after," he sniffed.

"Oh, Toby. I didn't mean-"

"You know what Mr. Rex also said? He said that if a dragon had only wished the princess away to the goblins that none of the dragons would have died and they would have been welcomed to his castle. And then the princess would have a happy after. I wish you could have a happy after. I wish the goblins would take you away."

"Tob-!"

_Click._

Toby looked at the phone and sighed.

_Lost Connection._

"Phooey," he said. Toby looked at the clock and smiled. "I win, Sarah."

Twelve o'clock flashed in red.

Toby jumped up and did a little dance before running downstairs and putting the phone back in its cradle when Sarah didn't call back right away.

'Must have forgotten to charge her phone again.' He thought. Shrugging, he made his way back upstairs and went to bed. He didn't hear the sound of flapping wings when he turned off the lights.

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The next morning dawned bright and early. The sun found its way through blue curtains and splayed itself upon the bed of a tiny seven year old boy who was fast asleep.

If someone had been sitting in the oak tree outside the double-paned window and had managed to gaze through the tiny sliver between the curtains, they'd see a room that hadn't been repainted since the parents of the house had learned they were having a baby boy. The walls were baby blue with little bears stenciled in and the carpet was dyed a darker blue with rugs in the shape of cars. Toys littered the floor and the bookcase had a total of three books and all other space was taken up by all manner of things boys collect; cars, rocks, gum, and even a bag of multi-colored sand.

But the most notable thing in the room wasn't on shelves or underneath the bed, but on the bed itself. The boy.

The little boy scrunched his face as the light tried to pry open his eyelids to welcome the new day. He turned over and the light could only touch his tousled blonde curls, turning them a burnt gold.

He had planned on sleeping longer, maybe just five minutes, when a knocking on his door forced him to open one sky blue eye.

"Mmhhm?"

"Toby, time to get up," Ellen Williams poked her head into the doorway. "Breakfast is waiting for you on the table."

Toby huffed and buried his head in the pillow.

"Come on, you have school today. Up, up." She closed the door with a snap.

Toby sighed and contemplated lying there for a few more minutes. Maybe staying up so late hadn't been such a good idea. Drat.

With much groaning and mumbling, Toby managed to get out of bed and into relatively clean clothes. Making his way downstairs, he rubbed his eyes, not noticing the pictures that he passed everyday. As he sat down to his bowl of cereal, he looked at the phone.

_No New Messages_

"That's weird," Toby said around the crunchy o's in his mouth. Even if Sarah let her phone die, she'd always call back in the morning. Without fail, she would call. But Toby had slept in today and there was still no call.

"What's weird son?" Robert asked around his newspaper.

"Sarah didn't call back," he said half-heartedly. Maybe she had slept in again. That made him smile. Oh he most definitely won this time.

"Sarah who, darling?" Ellen asked, sipping her morning tea as if afraid she'd burn herself when she made sure it had stopped steaming before she ever picked it up. The same routine every day, over and over again. Except now. Now something was different. Something wasn't right. Maybe they were joking.

"Sarah, my sister," Toby urged. "Duh."

Robert placed his newspaper down. He and Ellen exchanged looks.

"Toby," His father said slowly. "You don't have a sister. Your mother and I have been trying, and we are sorry you don't any siblings to play with, but that's the way life works out sometimes."

Toby blinked. He blinked again just to be sure this wasn't a dream. He even pinched himself but aside from a red mark on this forearm, nothing changed. Robert's eyes were confused behind his glasses, the sun glinting back from one of the lenses, making him look half-blind. Ellen merely looked from Robert to Toby as if watching a tennis match, their conversation the ball.

"Dad, what are you talking about?" Toby asked incredulously. "_Sarah_. Sarah Williams. She's twenty-one and you're first kid. Although, not with Mom, obviously," Toby said quickly at the look on Ellen's face. "You were married before and then Sarah's mom went…somewhere and you took care of Sarah on your own until you met Mom and then you guys had me." He finished proudly.

Ellen's eyes were big and white. "Sweetie, your dad was never married to anyone else. He-"

"Oh, well, I guess Sarah never actually said you guys had married. I just thought that if you love someone, you marry them and have kids." He smiled innocently.

"Robert…?" Ellen was at a total loss. What was Toby talking about? Why was he saying such far-fetched tales?

"I know, I know darling," Robert said tersly. "Son, today isn't April Fools, you can stop with the tricks and jokes."

"But I'm not-"

"I know your mother and I should probably take this with a grain of salt and laugh it off. But this is a serious accusation. You are telling us that I have a daughter out of wedlock with another woman when I've been with your mother, faithfully and dutifully. I have never had another child nor have I met another woman who I would wish to have one with besides your mother." Ellen placed a hand on his, a warm smile hiding the confusion but with a look back at Toby, the uncertainty was back anew.

"But-but I'm telling the truth! Today is Sarah's birthday! Just look at the calendar, you wrote it down a few-" He stopped. There, on the calendar, where it should have said 'Sarah's 21st Birthday' in red pen, was a blank square. But it was the same calendar from yesterday, the same writing for Ellen and Robert's weekend date this Friday, every curve and scratch exactly the same. It was almost has if someone had just erased today's note and left everything the way it was. But you couldn't erase pen completely. There were always markings. Toby didn't see any.

"Wha-? But that's-that can't be…." Toby sputtered in disbelief.

"Honey," Ellen said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You must have had a very realistic dream last night. That was just wishful thinking." She rubbed his back soothingly but Toby sat ramrod straight.

Wishful…wish….

And all of a sudden, Toby Samson Williams was struck with the idea that wishes could come true – at a very wicked price.

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**And Toby is now awakened to the fact that fairy tales have a dark side. Sorry Tobes. So, what did you all think? Reviewing means love and ignorance means neglect. :D**

**Toodles.**


	2. Rabbit from the Wolf

**AN: Sorry for the really long delay. This will probably happen a lot. I apologize in advance.**

**WARNING! Jareth is not a sparkling semi-baddie in this. He's a hardcore villain here.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything belongs to Jim Henson. If I did own Labyrinth, Jareth and Sarah would be canon. Just saying.**

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Chapter 2: Rabbit from the Wolf

_Click_

Sarah didn't move. She didn't breathe.

Don't panic. Don't panic Sarah.

But she could feel the panic flowing through her veins like ice. She had started breathing again but it was closer to hyperventilating than normal breathing.

Don't panic. Everything's fine.

Everything was not fine. The phone was dead –

Maybe you forgot to charge it. You've done it before. In fact, this same scene has played out before. Toby calls you, you talk for hours, and then your phone dies because you keep forgetting to charge it. Just plug it in and call him in the morning.

But Toby had said-

You might have heard wrong. Whatever he said doesn't matter. It's just coincidence that the phone went dead then.

She placed a hand on her heaving chest, her heart still thundering away.

But what if it's true?

What if nothing. What if the sun imploded? What if the ocean evaporated? What if the world stopped? Just take a deep breathe. One, two, three. See?

Sarah's breathing steadied out and she looked around her with wide eyes, pupils still blown wide with her brush of fear. What she saw was plain and normal and helped sooth her nerves.

Her regular old dorm room in her regular old dorm building at her regular old college. She was sitting at her standard-issue desk that was pushed against the south wall. To the right was her tiny-ass bed with her grandmother's quilt. Her dresser was against the far wall, clothes spilling out of the drawers, and next to it, the door. The wall opposite her bed was where the only window in the room was located, framed by bookshelves stacked to bursting. She could see the same dark sky outside that window, the same stars and the same trees.

Nothing was out of order. Nothing to suggest that anything was different in any way.

She closed her eyes. She took another breath and let it out slowly.

Last time those words had been spoken, the reaction had been instantaneous. The baby had stopped crying. The lights wouldn't come back on. A gob-_something_ had been in the baby's place and then there had been nothing. Nothing. And then the laughter. The snickers and giggles, the chuckles and snorts. The movement just at the edges of her vision. And then the window-

But she wasn't nothing. She was sitting right here. Right where she had been throughout her phone call with Toby. The lamp on her desk was still on and the only sound to be heard was the _whoosh-foosh_ of the air moving through her lungs. Nothing had been moving when the phone call had ended abruptly. Her window wasn't shuttering as he- Nothing was wrong.

Upon opening her eyes, her gaze went to the plastic in her hand. The screen was black. She resolutely got up and started digging for her charger under her bed. Upon finding it, she plugged it in and smiled grimly when the screen lit up again.

See? Nothing out of the ordinary.

Except those words.

The smile melted off her face and she sat heavily onto the bed. Her dark hair slid over her face as she ducked her head and hunched her shoulders against the weight of those words.

_I wish the goblins would take you away._

Fear sliced through her heart like a piece of glass. In the back of her mind, she noticed her hands trembling.

She hadn't thought about those words in a long time. So long in fact, it had taken Toby telling a simple story to drag up those memories-no dream. Just a dream. A dream that had seemed so real but a dream it was. All it was.

Now that the dream was back in her mind, she could remember it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. The sparkling stone, the twisting passages, the oubliette, the disgusting bog, the disorienting Escher room, and her friends. Here a smile spread tentatively across her face. The grumpy dwarf, the innocent monster, the courageous fox and his cowardly steed.

And then, and then there was _him_. Her smile turned into a grimace and she squeezed her eyes tight shut. The man who wasn't a man. The man who wasn't even human. How much like a nightmare had he haunted her? Weaving in and out of her dreams. Sometimes she even swore she had seen him in her waking moments. Those were the times that scared her the most. If a dream was just a dream, then why was he haunting her so?

But she had no answer. Even with all of these psychology classes, she didn't have an answer. If it had been someone else, anyone else, she might have been able to give it a scientific name, a diagnosis. But her mind was blank.

One is either judge or accused. The judge sits, the accused stands.

Well, Sarah was sitting right now. But what was there to judge? If she was judging herself then she would have to stand. But if she were to stand, who was to judge? Could she rely on someone else to judge her sanity? What if she was thrown into an asylum?

She pulled a hand through her hair, hazel eyes glazed as she looked within herself for answers.

But answers were always hard to find by oneself. You had to go looking for them. You had to have an adventure, like all the books said. You had to find the answers by finding yourself.

She huffed out a breath. Her mind was no longer blank. In fact, it felt like it was trying to overload itself on questions. Maybe she should just take a walk. Calm her mind, breathe.

She got unsteadily to her feet and sighed. Now where were her shoes?

Once she had successfully found out her shoes and a jacket, she changed from her pajama bottoms into a pair of jeans. It was cold outside.

With one final glance at her phone, she grabbed her dorm key and left. The lamp on her desk flickered as she closed the door.

'_Christ is it cold.'_ Sarah thought.

She hugged her jacket closer around her body as she pushed open the dormitory building door. An autumn wind slipped through the cracks in her armor and chilled her to the bone. Leaves fell in heaps as she walked across the courtyard. In the middle of the paved square, a fountain tinkled merrily, the school motto emblazoned in bronze shone in the light from the building behind her. Another student was sitting at the fountain, a thick tome in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

The door closed with a bang behind her, making her jump. The student merely looked up briefly before returning to his book. He took a drag of his personal poison as Sarah walked along the other side of the fountain. She didn't want to start any conversations or walk away awkwardly. Avoiding confrontation altogether seemed the best option.

As she strolled leisurely around the fountain, leaves crunched in tune with each step and, coupled with the music of the falling water, her mind started to calm down. Soon, it felt like a still pond, rippling occasionally in the wind but not disturbed.

Sarah took a deep breath and let it out in a white poof. It really was starting to get cold out. She hunched inwards, trying to conserve what little heat her jacket was keeping in.

Sarah followed the pavement idly as she let her mind think of nothing in particular. Her feet took her away from the fountain but just as she was about to turn a corner and walk along the building's side, she turned back on an impulse. The student was no longer there.

She frowned and looked around. She hadn't heard the door slam shut, was he still out here? Or had he just closed the door softly, knowing it would slam and possibly wake someone? Her eyes flickered around the courtyard but she could see no one.

The wind howled through the trees and she shivered. She really should have brought a thicker jacket. Sarah turned and continued walking.

Now that she was out here, the wind seemed to blow a lot harder. From inside, it hadn't looked that bad. Now she could barely see for her hair flying in her face. At one point she nearly choked when it tried to climb down her throat. She spat it out and tied it up in revenge. Though now of course the back of her neck was exposed to the cold air.

She growled low in her throat. Tonight just wasn't her night. At least she was calmer though. Her phone would be charged by the time she got up later today. She stopped in her tracks. It was already day. She looked at the watch around her wrist and with a jolt realized that she had been twenty-one for thirty-five minutes now.

"Happy birthday to me," she smiled wistfully.

The wind blew harder, the branches overhead screeching as they rubbed against one another. A cloud floated across the moon like a tattered cloth had been thrown over a lamp, drowning the world underneath in darkness.

"Alright, alright, I give up! I'm going back inside," she shouted at the sky. There was no answer but the howling of the wind and the leaves scratching across pavement as she turned back.

Then a new sound came. A sort of clicking.

Sarah stopped and turned her head to listen better. It sounded almost like heels on the pavement. The sound stopped a second later. She turned to look behind her but she couldn't make out anything in the darkness. She continued on.

And so did the new sound.

The paranoid thought that she was being followed entered her mind, bringing with it a slight jolt of adrenalin. Sarah deliberately scuffed her feet along the pavement just to be sure it wasn't her and when the heels kept along at their patient pace, her own feet subconsciously moved faster. Before she knew it, she was running.

How had she gotten so far from the fountain?

Her breath was coming in gasps, the air stabbing at her lungs like ice shards. She couldn't hear anything over the sound of her feet slapping on pavement and her heart pounding in her ears. The thought I don't want to die on my birthday ran through her head before she shoved it aside. She was _not_ going to die. Don't be ridiculous.

Up ahead, she saw the building's corner, light was pouring from beyond it and she knew that if she only got around the corner, she'd be fine.

A figure suddenly turned around the corner and she skidded to a halt, nearly falling. The slender silhouette was barely distinguishable. The pounding in her ears only seemed louder now that her feet had stopped.

The figure merely stood there. It was obvious the person was wearing heels and they seemed to have a large quantity of hair and Sarah automatically relaxed. It was probably just another early riser out for a walk and she too must have stopped at the shock of seeing someone else. Though maybe she couldn't see her, it was dark after all. Maybe she had just heard running feet and stopped.

"Hello!" Sarah shouted over the wind, raising a hand in greeting. She took a few steps forwards.

The figure didn't move.

Something about the absolute stillness of the figure made a shiver of foreboding crawl up her spine. Her feet stuttered to a halt as her hand fell limply to her side. Something wasn't right.

The wind howled and this time, it had a voice.

"Sarah."

She froze. And then she started to tremble, her teeth chattering in her mouth. A hand came up to grasp at her collar.

"Sarah."

She took a step back and the figure mirrored her, taking a step towards her.

"No," she whimpered. "No, no, no." She took another step back and the figure took one in turn. Like a dance. A dance from hell.

"No," she choked out. She turned and ran.

Across the pavement and into the bordering woods, she ran full-out, the laughter ringing out behind her and around her. She could barely make out where she was going it was so damn dark.

Why did you come out here? Why? Why?!

She was practically sobbing as she ran. Something whooshed overheard and something soft brushed her head. The sound of flapping wings had her skidding and making a sharp turn, nearly smacking her head on a low-hanging branch.

She was now thoroughly lost. She didn't know in what direction she was running, she didn't know if a tree was in front of her before she was swerving around it. And she didn't know where he was. But he was there.

Sarah looked behind her and saw a dark shape bearing down on her. Suddenly she was on the ground and her ankle gave a sharp _crack_ as her foot twisted around a root.

She screamed. Her fingernails dug into the cold, hard earth beneath her as tears started to fall from her eyes.

Get up, get up, GET UP!

She managed to get to her knees when a heavy weight settled itself on her ankle. She cried out as claws dug into her already bruised flesh. She kicked out with her other foot and felt it connect. A harsh screech stabbed at her ears as the weight left her leg but she was already up and running, her ankle throbbing with every step.

You're just a mouse to him, Sarah. You're his prey.

Prey can escape, they can! She thought back to all those biology documentaries she had had to watch in science class all those years ago. The rabbit running from the wolf. She remembered how the rabbit changed direction as often as it could and she too started swerving and turning.

Sarah turned around a thick oak and there was light ahead. She sobbed in relief. The courtyard was just ahead.

Get to the door, go, you can make it.

The pain in her ankle intensified but she kept going. She was almost safe. She stepped out of the dark skirts of the trees and smacked into what felt like a wall and steel bands wrapped around her waist.

She looked up in alarm just as the cloud ran from the moon and light fell upon the face she had hoped to never ever see again.

"Hello, Precious."

Her breath escaped her in a whoosh. Had she ever had air in her lungs to begin with? Her head felt woozy. This couldn't be happening. This was impossible. He couldn't be-

"Jareth," she breathed. Her breath hitched once more as his lips pulled up in a knife-sharp smile. Mix-matched eyes gazed hungrily down his aquiline nose at her as his arms wrapped themselves more securely around her and the cliché thought that if he hadn't, her knees would give out passed fleetingly through her mind. Her ankle stabbed at her nerves.

"Aw, so you remember now, do you?" He laughed. Feather-light hair that seemed just as soft flowed gently in the gust of wind around them while hers whipped around in its ponytail. "Are you done running?"

She swallowed around the lump in her throat and his eyes followed the movement. She shook her head minutely.

He didn't smile this time. He merely let his eyes wander across her face. Tracing the curve of her cheekbone, the arch of her eyebrows, the plain of her forehead, the dimple at the corner of her mouth, the bridge of her nose, and coming to rest briefly on her slightly parted lips before darting back up to her eyes.

He cocked his head. "You've grown up, princess," he said.

She shuddered and turned her head at the hungry light in his eyes. Her hands came up to his chest to push him back and, to her annoyance, found that he was giving off enough heat to warm her smarting fingers. She pulled away quickly, her fingertips brushing the weird medallion he always wore.

He laughed deep in his chest, the sound rolling through her. He bent closer until his mouth tickled her cold ear. He blew on it and the blood starting flowing back to the exposed skin. A shiver ran up her spin and she tried to break away again but he held her fast.

"Not this time, precious," he breathed against her, his lips tickling her ear. "This time, you're mine."

"Please," was all she was able to say as her senses started to fade. Before she blacked out completely, around the corner and across the courtyard a clock started to chime the hour. It rang thirteen times.

* * *

When she awoke, the first thing Sarah was aware of was the pain in her ankle.

She groaned. Without opening her eyes, she stretched out a hand to feel the swollen area. Her hands only reached her knees when they were stopped.

Her eyes sprang open. Around each wrist was a thick manacle. There was even one across her undamaged ankle. The chains were bolted the floor a few feet away from her.

Looking around her, she saw that she was once again in darkness. But unlike before, this darkness felt close, the air was stale and earthy. She was lying against cold stone floor and the only meager light came from a hole in the ceiling directly above her. The light was very little, as if through a long tunnel. She couldn't see anything outside of the circle of light but she felt eyes on her all the same.

She pulled on the chain in desperation. But the only reward she got was chafed wrists and the clink of metal ringing and echoing in the close space.

Sarah didn't even bother crying out. Whoever had put her here wasn't going to let her out anytime soon. She curled into a ball and fought the tears stinging her eyes.

She didn't know how long she lay there when she heard footsteps. The same clicking, slow paced footsteps from before. Something brushed against her back and she curled tighter around herself, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Tut, tut, Sarah," he admonished. Of course it was him. Who else could it have been? "I never took you for a coward. You were always such a spitfire."

She didn't acknowledge him with a response, merely grabbed hold of her collar and stayed silent.

He made an impatient sound. Then her eyes flew open as he kicked her stomach, effectively turning her over and knocking the wind out of her in one swift move.

She chocked as she clutched at her middle. He walked calmly around her prone figure, his black cloak sliding across the floor softly. He knelt before her, his face half in shadow.

"You've brought this upon yourself, princess," Jareth tsked. He thrust a hand into her hair and brought it up to his level.

She cried out as her hair pulled at her scalp, her neck at an odd angle as he tilted it so he could see her in the light falling upon the scene.

"If you hadn't wished away your poor baby brother all those years ago, we wouldn't be here." His hand twisted in her dark hair harshly. She winced.

"But I won." She croaked, glaring disdainfully into his face.

His lip curled angrily before he started laughing. The reaction was so unexpected, Sarah jumped.

"You were never supposed to win, precious. And," he pulled her head even closer to his own, their lips a mockery of an almost-kiss. "Now that you've been given so freely to me," His sharp teeth bit into her bottom lip, tearing the flesh. "I'll never let you go."

Bracing herself, she spat a mouthful of blood into his face. With a growl of rage, he threw her head down. She managed to catch herself before she slammed into the stone floor but she knew she was going to pay dearly.

Jareth got languidly to his feet and stood over her, his face not betraying a hint of emotion. His medallion flashed in the light as he brought his hands up and made a twisting motion with his wrists. With a flash, three silver baubles were twirling in his gloved hands. Sarah couldn't help following the motion with her eyes even as she sat up and inched away from him.

"Sarah," he said her name in that special way he did. "Don't defy me."

Even as Sarah warily watched the Goblin King juggle the balls in his hands, she felt a jolt of recognition go through her. Jareth had said those exact same words the first time they had met and had then promptly thrown a snake at her. She flinched when two of the balls disappeared in a burst of light and glitter. Despite this odd feeling of déjà vu, she wasn't going to play along.

"You have no power-" He moved faster than she could track. One moment he was standing outside the ring of light in which she lay and the next she was dangling in the air, his hand around her throat.

She gasped, whether from surprise or lack or air she didn't know. His hand was like a vice around her esophagus. Her hands tried to come up and pry his gloved hand off but the chains kept them waist high.

"Wrong." He breathed, eyes flashing dangerously. His grip tightened even more, making her gag. "Too long have you been able to escape my grasp with those pathetic words. Too long have I had to wait for my chance. And now that it's here, precious," he leaned closer. "I won't be passing it up for _anything_."

Sarah's mouth worked as she tried to breathe, her hands jerking, trying in vain to free herself. Black spots were starting to swim before her eyes.

His dagger smile flashed and he let her drop. She fell to her knees before him, gulping in as much air as her abused throat would allow.

"I rather like you on your knees, bowing before me." He hummed thoughtfully, circling her.

"Why?" she gasped, her hand coming up to massage her throat.

"Well, because I've been thinking of overpowering you for years now. I always thought you were such a strong little spitfire." He laughed raucously. "But now that you're here, I can see you for what you really are. And it's just marvelous how very weak this new you is."

"No." She shook her head.

"No what, sweetling?" He snapped.

"Why didn't you finish it just then?" She watched his feet through her hair. He was still circling her, like a bird of prey circles it's lunch. "You could have ended my life not two seconds ago. Why didn't you?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead he continued to walk around her for another minute before stopping right behind her.

"Because it wouldn't suit me."

"What the hell is that supposed to-?" Sarah turned to look behind her but he was gone. Her head whipped from side to side. She was alone.

Sarah slowly sat up, every bit of her aching. She stretched her right foot out, her ankle now pulsing angrily, and pulled her other knee up to lean her head against it.

_Because it wouldn't suit me._

_I've been thinking of overpowering you for years now._

_It wouldn't suit me._

What was that supposed to mean? If he wanted to overpower her, wouldn't killing her be the sweetest treat? Though torturing her seemed to have its merits too, wouldn't getting rid of her forever prove the ultimate overpowering? She ran her tongue over her torn lip.

None of this made sense. Sure Jareth had been the bad guy when she solved the Labyrinth, but this was almost too much. Last time, he had merely been another challenge to getting Toby back, just another obstacle to overcome. Now…now he incited fear. He was now the ultimate villain. Cruel, vicious, nigh on unhinged and unpredictable.

How had this happened?

Sarah reached out and tenderly prodded her swollen ankle. She hissed as the pain intensified. Broken. She sighed. How was she going to get out of here on broken ankle? How was she going to get out of here period? If Toby had wished her here, then wouldn't he have to travel the Labyrinth too?

She closed her eyes in defeat. She had tried so hard to win her little brother back and it seemed like they were both being subjected to Jareth's little game all over again. But where was Toby? Jareth hadn't said anything about Toby battling his way to the castle. Hadn't mentioned him being here at all. With a sinking feeling, Sarah felt that this time, there would be no hero to rescue the maiden.

"Some birthday you're having Sarah," she said to herself. "Some birthday." She curled up on her side and willed herself to sleep, wishing that when she awoke, she'd be right back in her regular old dorm room.

She dreamed she was studying for her Juggling Class exam. But she couldn't quite remember the technique needed to juggle twelve different goblins. She was standing in her family room at home. Toby and her parents were sitting on the couch ignoring her. Another goblin jumped into her arms cackling but still, her family took no notice.

"Dad, can you help me?"

Robert merely pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stared at the television screen.

"Ellen?" Sarah called desperately. Her stepmother yawned but showed no sign of hearing her. "Toby?!"

And to her astonishment, he flinched and looked around. But his eyes passed right through her and the now fourteen goblins in her arms. He blinked and returned to watch the screen, a frown pursing his lips.

"Why can't they see me?" She asked no one in particular. The goblins seemed to find this amusing though and they all started laughing. One with a rather large snout squeeled.

"They don't know who you are, peach-eater." It cackled. It pulled a face as one of its friends started snorting. "No one knows who you are!" They all started laughing loudly as the room around them blurred like a window when it rains. When it cleared, Sarah found they were in the hallway. What she saw made her gasp and nearly drop the goblins.

Along the wall was a collection of pictures throughout the years. Where there should have been the photo of her graduation and the family photo of all four of them at Christmas, a picture of Toby and a new dog was in the place of her in her blue robes. But the thing that shocked her the most was the Christmas photo. Everyone was in the same exact spot but Sarah wasn't to be found.

"Is this real?" She gasped. The goblins jumped down from her tired arms as a voice whispered in her ear.

"Yes precious. I would say it is very real indeed."

She turned on her heel and ran but his laughter followed her. She wouldn't be able to escape this time. The wolf had gotten the rabbit at last.


End file.
